More than 20 die in Japan’s worst earthquake in years

THOUSANDS of weary and frightened residents in northern Japan were spending a second night in shelters, cars or in the open yesterday after Japan’s deadliest earthquake in nine years killed at least 21 people.

More than 2,100 were injured when the 6.8 magnitude quake and a series of powerful aftershocks struck rural Niigata prefecture, about 250 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, on

Saturday, setting off landslides, wrecking houses and buckling railway tracks.

Repeated aftershocks struck the region well into the night, raising concerns of more landslides in the largely mountainous region.

One slide devastated a village, killing at least two people and cutting off about 600 residents for more than 12 hours.

The quake is the deadliest in Japan since the Kobe earthquake killed more than 6,400 in 1995.

In Tokyo, where the government set up a crisis centre, officials were trying to contact remote areas and arrange to transport food, water, blankets, heaters and other necessities.

The quake and aftershocks shook buildings in Tokyo on Saturday but there were no reports of injuries or major damage. Officials estimated a quake of similar size around Tokyo would kill about 7,000.